The Lowdown: Berkeley council on minimum wage increase, mini-dorms, ballot measures, more

On April 1, the Berkeley City Council will take a new look at raising the minimum wage, rules governing mini-dorms, and changes to AC Transit’s Line 51 bus route. There’s also a special session at 5:30 p.m. to discuss survey results related to ballot measures under consideration for the November 2014 election.

Scroll to the bottom of this post to see how to participate and weigh in about meeting coverage, even if you can’t attend in person.

Special session: Ballot measures for the November 2014 election

Coming up at 5:30 p.m., council will hear about results from a survey undertaken in March to test support for possible ballot measures for November’s election. Berkeleyside wrote about those findings several weeks ago. See the city’s report here. In a nutshell, Berkeleyans seem eager to enact a new tax on sugar-sweetened drinks, but less likely to support other potential ballot measures being considered by council. Council will discuss the ballot measure issue during a special session, but also in its regular meeting. Read more on Berkeleyside.

What’s on the action agenda?

The city has, in the past, identified 2133 Parker street as a mini-dorm property south of the Cal campus. Image: Google Maps

Under consideration since last June, the Berkeley City Council may decide Tuesday night whether to increase the city’s minimum wage. Staff has recommended that council members “establish the minimum wage in line with the living wage, starting at $10.74”; tie the minimum wage to the Consumer Price Index; and include a medical benefits requirement. (See Item 24 for more detail.)

AC Transit has been working to win community support related to adjustments along its Line 51 route in Berkeley to speed up service and make it more reliable. Berkeleyside has been covering the issue since August. Tuesday night, council is set to give AC Transit the green light to move forward.

Other items of interest

The city of Berkeley plans to replace its existing streetlights with a more sustainable technology in 2014. Photo: Jeremy Brooks

The city is planning to convert its existing street lamps to fit LED bulbs. The city sought a loan last October to help secure financing for the project. Tuesday night, the city is set to award the contract for the work to make the upgrades.

Berkeleyside often covers council meetings live on Twitter. Others sometimes do the same and the discussion can get spirited. Follow council coverage on Twitter via hashtag #berkmtg. Follow along in real-time here, and tag your tweets with #berkmtg to join in. You do not need a Twitter account to follow along. Just click here.

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EBGuy

As a “nuisance”, you’d think that 2133 Parker would have been slapped with fines from Exhibit Bs being posted under the Second Response Ordinance. As far as I can tell, this has never happened (only an Exhibit A, which puts the occupants on notice). As LM points out, “Houston we have a (code enforcement) problem”.

bgal4

about the “mini-dorm” matter;

The real problem is not homes converted into rooming houses providing affordable housing. Once again the reason the Parker St problem festered so long is Berkeley’s unreliable code enforcement systems. The ordinance covering unruly parties is already sufficient to respond to the unruly parties. If UCB student conduct would partner with the city as is the custom in other towns hosting UC the harm would have been addressed in a timely effective manner.

I do not believe regulating the size of rooming houses is the correct course of action. Affordable housing especially for young folks is hard to come by. I lived in a “mini-dorm” from age 25-30 on Harmon St in south Berkeley. My roommates included several grad students who are now successful academics, some are experts in their subject area. Other roommates included actors, Ecology Center staff, teachers and Europeans study aboard. A few marriages come out of Harmon House. We had many holiday potlucks and dance parties. The only time the cops were called was when were were broken into by local teens.